


Ganging Up on the Son

by grapehyasynth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon verse, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 19:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7187399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapehyasynth/pseuds/grapehyasynth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz's aunts can be a bit over-eager -- and when they stop by his mum's place right before Jemma's due to arrive for a visit, he worries they'll do something to offend or scare her off. So the dynamic that emerges is a bit of a surprise. </p><p>*Bonus points if you understand the title reference</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ganging Up on the Son

"Maybe after I meet her at the train station we should just have lunch in town,” Fitz whispered to his mum, glancing at the collection of aunts perched around the sitting room. “Keep out of your hair.”

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Fitz exclaimed, not at all trying to keep her voice down. “I’m sure they all want to meet her.”

“Ooooh, has Fitz got a  _ lady friend  _ coming to visit?” Aunt Flo called without looking up from her knitting.

Fitz tried to motion for his mother to abort the conversation, but she smirked pointedly at him and said loudly, “Not just  _ any  _ girl.  _ Jemma _ .”

“Ooooooooooooooh!” all the aunts cried in unison, abandoning their other pursuits to focus -- with terrifying laser intensity -- on the conversation.

“After all we’ve heard about her!” Aunt Elsbeth cooed, pressing a hand to her heart.

“Have you finally gotten off your bum and gotten together with her, then?” Aunt Beatrice demanded.

Fitz groaned and buried his face in his hands. They all laughed.

Before they could pester him further, though, the sound of gravel crunching under tires filtered through from out front of the house.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Fitz asked his mum, brow furrowed.

“No, unless I’ve been miscounting and we’ve a sister missing?”

“I think we’re all here!” Beatrice chimed in.

“I’ll go check,” Fitz sighed. They’d only been here a few hours and it was driving him batty.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find Jemma hauling a suitcase out of the back of a cab.

“I thought I was picking you up in half an hour!” Fitz checked his watch as he hurried to help her. “Did I miss a text from you or--”

“No, no,” Jemma assured him, closing the boot and waving gratefully to the cabbie, who drove carefully away down the uneven drive. “I got in early and didn’t want to bother you. I know how precious your time is with your mum.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips and turned to go down the path to the house.

“I’ve got to warn you,” Fitz said quietly, grabbing her elbow. “We’ve got a bit of a gaggle inside.”

“Is your house infested?” Jemma frowned, concerned. “Ants, termites, bats--”

“No, we’ve got a crowd.” She still looked nonplussed, so he continued, “My aunts are here. They dropped in unexpectedly, they should be gone by evening--”

“Lovely!” she chirped, forging ahead again. “You talk about your extended family so little, I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how you feel in five minutes,” Fitz muttered, trailing reluctantly after her.

All the aunts were hovering in the hallway with Fitz’s mum when he and Jemma entered.

“Hello!” Jemma beamed, setting down her bag and waving at all of them. “I’m Jemma. It’s truly a wonder we haven’t met before now, considering I’ve spent half my holidays with the Fitzes, but if you’re half as wonderful as your sister, I’m delighted to make your acquaintances.”

“She is  _ lovely _ ! Well  _ done,  _ Fitz,” Beatrice gushed as the aunts swarmed Jemma.

“Has he been telling you all sorts of horrid stories about me?” Jemma tutted, glaring teasingly out at him from the flock of arms and curls and bosoms surrounding her.

“That’s not -- I’d  _ never _ \--”

Jemma stuck her tongue out at him and the aunts roared with laughter.

“I’ve not missed lunch, have I?” Jemma rooted around in her handbag. “I picked up some fresh bread in the village.”

“Sorry, Fitz, we’re exchanging you for this duckling.” Flo looked like she wanted to marry Jemma on the spot.

“Wherever  _ did  _ you find such a treasure?”

“By my side the whole time,” Fitz muttered, but none of them heard, as Elsbeth was carrying Jemma’s bags upstairs and the other women were herding her along, practically preening her as they went.

He dragged himself after them into the kitchen, where Mrs. Fitz was busy delegating tasks for the meal preparation.

“Not you, Jemma, dear,” she added, patting Jemma’s arm. “You have a nice sit and tell us all about your life. Leo barely shares anything.”

Fitz shot Jemma a threatening look -- he knew how all-too-freely she enjoyed sharing information about  _ particular  _ aspects of their  _ personal, private, physical  _ lives -- but she ignored him pointedly. “I’ve been sitting for a few hours on the train, Mrs. Fitz -- I’d really love to stand and have something to do with my hands.”

“You can help me with the neeps and tatties,” Beatrice called over her shoulder.

“Does it make me a terrible Brit if I have no idea what that is?” Jemma laughed.

"It does not, though you’ll not last long married into this family if you don’t pick up a few old Scottish favorites,” Elsbeth said as she breezed into the room.

Jemma giggled and made her way over to Beatrice. Fitz had frozen, staring at them all, and Flo eventually prodded him. “What’ve we done to this one?”

“Oh, he’s just flustered because he and Jemma aren’t  _ engaged _ , Flo, just dating.” Mrs. Fitz rolled her eyes, a habit Fitz was  _ sure  _ she’d picked up from Jemma.

Beatrice, Flo, and Elsbeth snorted in unison.

“Can’t see that state of affairs lasting long,” Beatrice observed in a stage-whisper to Jemma. She handed her a paring knife and some potatoes and added thoughtfully, “Though it did take the pair of you over ten years just to get to this point--”

“We’ve been accelerating the timeline since then,” Jemma assured her.

“Oooh, then you can tell us whether Leo still sleeps with that mangy stuffed sloth he used to take everywhere!” Elsbeth cried excitedly.

“Mum, make them stop,” Fitz pleaded.

“A sloth?” Jemma twisted to gape at Fitz dramatically. “When we met in school he claimed his only true love in the animal kingdom was monkeys. Now I feel I don’t know him at all.”

“Trust us, dear, we can fill in those gaps,” Flo chuckled as she assisted Mrs. Fitz in checking the roast in the oven. “Raising Fitz was a village affair, so between the four of us women, we know every embarrassing detail there is to tell!”

“Not that you couldn’t expand our knowledge,” Beatrice cut in slyly, elbowing Jemma (carefully, so she didn’t cut herself, of course). “Little Leo was never very popular with the ladies, so there are certain... holes in our Leo lexicon.”

“Ah ah ah, that’s where I draw the line,” Mrs. Fitz said loudly over the resulting titters. “He may be all grown up, but he’s still my son, and I’ll not have discussions of his sexual prowess in my house.”

Fitz groaned once more and left the kitchen without a word, collapsing on the couch in the sitting room to drown himself in his favorite tech magazine.

Jemma came to fetch him half an hour later and found him stretched out with the magazine over his face. She sat on the edge of the cushion and lifted the magazine just far enough that she could kiss his chin.

“And what do  _ you _ want, traitor?” he growled, his voice muffled, and gently jostled her knee.

“Lunch is ready,” she murmured, kissing slightly higher up his jaw.

“Hmph.” His little huff blew hot air against her nose.

She tried the other side of his face. “And your Aunt Elsbeth put my bags in the guest room but I snuck up under pretense of using the loo and moved them into your room.”

“Mmm.” It was a bit of a softer noise this time, and his thumb started rubbing over her jeans.

“We were just teasing, Fitz.” She pressed her lips to his Adam’s apple.

He sighed and finally removed the magazine, looking up at her warily. “I know that, and it doesn’t bother me  _ that  _ much, but I’ve had a hard enough time keeping up with the mischief you and my mum get up to, let alone keeping track of five women’s machinations.”

“Scheming harpies, the lot of us.”

“Damn right.” He pouted slightly, trying to make himself look as pitiable as possible, but it just made Jemma laugh -- which wouldn’t have been a bad outcome, all in all, if he hadn’t been trying to stay mad at her.

“I promise I didn’t share anything with them you wouldn’t tell them yourself,” she continued, playing with his collar. “You know I never would.”

“I know.” He concentrated on the hand on her leg, sliding it carefully up her thigh. “Because if I felt you  _ were  _ inclined to share with abandon, I’d in turn be less inclined to...  _ experiment. _ ”

“Is that so?” Jemma asked, her voice unnaturally high, though she was obviously trying to maintain her composure despite his teasing fingers sneaking higher. “Then I believe we have an understanding, Dr. Fitz.”

They shook on it, and Jemma used her grip to pull him up to a seated position. He caught her about the waist as she made to stand.

“Hey Jemma, I know we’re not married,”  he murmured, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, “but welcome to the family.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr! I'm grapehyasynth there as well


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